Episode IX - The Balance of the Force
by LadyRavenwing
Summary: Major spoilers for The Last Jedi. - The Resistance is almost wiped out but hope remains. As the small band of rebels attempts to regroup and keep the spark of hope alive, Rey has to face her enemies and understand who she really is and can aspire to be. (My attempt at episode 9)
1. Escape

**Author´s note: My muse is very active these days and I hope some people will take a liking in this story. There are lots of ideas on it already, unfolding even as I wrote this first chapter. So sit back, read and enjoy and as usual: None of these folks are mine, none of this is written with any profit making in mind. My Star Wars knowledge is mostly limited to the movies and a few bits and pieces of research here and there. If you didn´t like The Last Jedi, this is not the fic you are looking for because it starts right after its events. For all others: Have fun.**

 **Chapter 1 - Escape**

Their escape had been a desperate one, their jump into hyperspace a triumph, leaping into the unknown, catapulting a motley, sadly small group of rebels into momentary safety. Away from the salty plains of Crait that, in the aftermath of their battle for the survival of a meek few, had turned the crimson colour of true butchery. Their triumph had had an aftertaste. So few survived and yet, the hope that Luke´s arrival… presence… she knew neither of these words were fitting, had created, was electrifying. At least for a few moments, a few hours, they allowed themselves to feel joy or, some, at least serenity. Luke was dead. And while she had not yet cried over him, while she understood that there was something of him that lingered in a way she could not grasp and that his passing had been a peaceful one, Rey knew that the blunt assault of her emotions might come later.

"That´s what happens sometimes," the pilot who had introduced himself to her as Poe Dameron, had told her as he found her sitting near one of the windows, peering out into hyperspace. "You just forget all the danger so you can focus and your mind is clear and you´re in the moment but it still might hit you later." The advice had sounded like he was the type to not typically give advice and who was now doing so merely for her benefit, but she had been grateful for it nonetheless. And yet, all she had been able to offer was a small smile.

There had been reunions, there had been relief, so much of it. Finding that Leia, that Fynn, were alive, her little disfunctional unit of what felt closest to a family she had never had. Apart from that, hyperspace had all offered them time for reflection, a time out from the noise of battle, the attempt of trying to clear their minds for the next step. And as the hours wound on most of them either found something to do, useless and trivial as it might be, or found a quiet place to be alone or chat in low voices. And after that was over, after they powered down the engines to leave hyperspace, the questions caught up with them and business as usual returned, even though it never quite felt that way. For minutes after the star streaked horizon turned back into almost black they all anxiously watched the skies only to find with relief that space around them stayed empty.

Chewie had taken over piloting for the moment giving most of their group a chance to meet in the hall of the Falcon. The ship didn´t have a meeting room of any sort and that should have discouraged the idea of ranks and titles and yet, even Rey with her limited understanding of politics noticed that the fighter pilots and the two mechanics that had survived seemed to automatically take their seats in the back.

"We are currently in mid-rim territory, not too far from Malastar . It´s a sector out of the reach of the First Order. For now." Leia informed them. There was a shadow over her features but apart from that the older woman carried herself with the same strength and dignity Rey had begun to admire her for.

"How can we know?" she asked.

"We may be devastatingly decimated," Leia said. "But the First Order, as much as they would deny it and as much as they aspire to the ways of the Empire are far from their reach and influence. They are a danger, but we are lucky to know that the universe is maybe in a more chaotic state now than it has been in hundreds of years. With the New Republic in ruins and the First Order still on the rise, there are countless of neutral worlds that may be willing to help out."

"It didn´t do us much good back on Crait. Like…. When they didn´t answer our call, remember?" Poe remarked and fell silent when that earned him a glance from the General and awkward silence from the rest. "We cannot give up on hope." Leia added more softly. "and if we must take advantage from our numbers it is that we are so few that we will be much harder to find."

"There is no doubt that this ship is being looked for by now. It always has been and now even more so." The pilot again.

"Which is why we better approach a neutral world quickly to take on board what we need and find help for those that need it. A place to hide, for now."

Rey could see Leia´s gaze meet Finn´s. She had not yet heard much about what exactly had been going on during the battle, but knew that there was a girl who was wounded and who Finn seemed to worry about. As she looked at him, the young man lowered his gaze and Rey felt a pang of guilt at the brief moment of jealousy. Was it jealousy? She had seen him hold her hand earlier in the cabin they had taken her to. The young woman had been flittering in and out of consciousness. She shook her head, annoyed with herself. This was not the time for things like that. There were much more pressing matters.

"Well at least they will have much bigger difficulties tracking us now." At least that prospect gave Poe something to look a little more cheerful about and there were a few brief claps of applause and some muffled agreement. Rey did not join in. What would the others say, she wondered, if they knew that the First Order had other ways of finding out where they were? The connection, that strange bond with Kylo Ren that had built over the last months… it was still there. And now that he had had to take humiliation, how much angrier, how much more desperate would he be? If focus, peace and tranquility increased the powers of a jedi as Luke had taught her, did the same thing hold true for anger and hatred for a user of the darkside? She did not dare continue that thought, half worried that if she focused too much on him right now, she might somehow conjur him up in the middle of this meeting…

She belatedly noticed that she had been trailing off in her thoughts and that when she found a way back to the here and now, Leia´s eyes were on here as she continued and finished her instructions.

"Yes?" she said, realizing only in that moment that she was responding to the General calling her by name.

"If everybody is agreed we should keep our eyes open for enemy activity as we approach the system and try to find a relatively isolated port on Malastare. Let´s send out a coded call and see how they respond. And let´s stick to the ideas we just came up with. For now, we´re undercover. " There was no annoyance in Leia´s eyes, only understanding. It didn´t help to make Rey feel any better. She felt herself nod and as if that had been the conclusion of everything there needed to be discussed, realising that she had missed out on a bigger chunk of conversation than she had been aware of, that the people around her started to get to their feet and return to whatever mostly mindless task they had been doing. She would have to find someone to explain things to her later. Leia stayed.

"I am sorry." was the only thing that made sense.

"There is nothing to be sorry for." the older woman smiled kindly but the smile did not quite reach her eyes. _How much worse must it be for her,_ Rey wondered. "You got to us in time."

"If I had, more would have survived…" And despite the devastating losses of that day, they both knew who she was referring to most. Rey didn´t fight back when she felt the General´s hand on her shoulder. "My brother always had a mind of his own in his very own way." she said. "It wouldn´t have been like him to not do what he did."

Rey felt her shoulders tense and felt bitter even talking that way. "I thought he wouldn´t." she said.

Leia didn´t reply but just smiled sadly. "I knew that if he found a way to, he would." And with that, she lifted her hand of Rey´s shoulder and left the younger woman alone with her own thoughts. Thoughts that were a storm of bits and pieces, but the figure at the eye of the storm remained the same.


	2. Rivalries

**Chapter 2 – Rivalries**

Armitage Hux had had it with the kid. His restless pacing. The tempers that had grown even worse after that incident on Crait. The obnoxious way he carried himself even after he had made an utter fool of himself and suffered humiliation in front of several dozen high ranked officials of the First Order among which he counted himself. After he had fired a good portion of their ammunition at thin air. Hux had little understanding of the Force, but what he had understood was that it had all been a trap set by that likewise impertinent old man Ren somehow seemed to have a connection to. No stranger to fits of anger himself Hux knew that in that moment the other man had dangerously exposed his lack of leadership, allowing the seeds of rebellion in his own ranks to grow and fester. Had given everyone who had watched the bizarre scene more than one reason why Kylo Ren, self fashioned leader of the Knights of Ren, unworthy replacement of Supreme Leader Snoke, was not cut out for leadership, but would eventually fall, relenting the place he had inherited by sheer luck to much worthier men.

He kept those thoughts hidden behind a mask of barely veiled disdain. He was aware his thoughts and emotions were on display for the other man to be picked through at will, but years under greater leaders had taught him how to guard his feelings and disrespects and own agenda well even in front of someone who was capable of wielding the Force. It had been a learning curve rife with trial and error. Attempts at seeming uninteresting and uninvolved, blending against the background of all that noise mentally and not be noticed.

"Supreme Leader?" He barely managed to keep the sarcasm from his voice when using the required adress. Soon, he thought, soon he would be the one with that title.

Ren was wearing his typical black garb but without the mask. Hux had not seen it on him in a while, wondering what had happened to the silly thing. Deeming it his own genius thought but really mostly mimicking the late Snoke´s disdain for the dark haired man´s childish dress up games he found he didn´t even care. At least with the mask there had been some menacing theatric authority to Ren. Without it, everyone could see he was barely more than a child. It made it even funnier to adress him the way he just did.

Ren turned, his face feigning impassiveness but betraying restlessness. They were in a large room, far from the ordered, towering grandeur of the throne room on the ship that was flittering through space in bits and pieces now, but it had had to make do. The star destroyer was a little smaller and less impressive than the previous one but it was their best armed, fastest cruiser. And they were currently headed for Chandrila, one of the Core worlds, one of the former capitols of the destroyed New Republic.

"I want the coordinates of the ship those rebels escaped on. I want to know where they escaped to." It was Ren´s impertinent way of requesting and answer to an order he had given as soon as they had left Crait. At least, for better or worse, the other one´s voice sounded a little more dignified even though Hux believed to still be able to hear a trace of anger in it. He hated how that made him tense up inwardly, his mind wary for possible danger.

"It is proving particularly difficult to do this, Supreme Leader." he repled tersely, staying where he was, chin up almost defiantly, gloved hands clasped behind his back. "But we are sending out search warrants to all regions of the galaxy, there is no way the Falcon will escape our attention in the long run."

"I don´t want the long run.I want that ship and those aboard. Now."

Hux felt his eyebrows raise. "As much as this may me an inconvenience, sir," and that last word did sound sharper than he had intended, "it will take the time it takes. They have a head start and it´s a vast galaxy. One that is not under our control the way we wish it just yet."

There was a flash of anger in Ren´s eyes at the not too subtle provocation.

"We should stick to our plan and keep the search going while making use of the fact that we have the upper hand. We need to proceed strengthening the First Order´s grip on the galaxy or it will slide from our grasp."

"Slide from _our_ grasp?" Ren´s voice was a barely softened snap. "We wiped out the Republic months ago. The galaxy is in disorder and ready to be reordered. This gang of criminals is not going to stand in my way."

"A gang of criminals indeed. To be dealt with when caught." Perhaps, Hux thought, he should just fuel Ren´s stupidity. Talk it into him until the manchild hopped into a ship and set off in pursuit leaving this cruiser to him…

He gasped sharply when an invisible push slammed against his lower ribcage, making him double over and fall to his knees, convinced for a moment that the violence of the attack had cracked a rib or two. "This is not going to happen." Ren said, his voice dangerously low, stepping closer towards him, all shimmering anger under a surface of stubbornness. He had read his thoughts. "Once we located them, we´ll get the fleet out. You will be on that fleet. I will annihilate them once and for all."

Hux was still recovering from the push, looking up. How could this man this…boy, be so stunningly incompetent? When he spoke, it was against better judgement but defending his pride. He had served all his life, he had been a bootlicker, but it had always had purpose. It had always had order. Ren was a raging, unpredictable chaos threatening to destabilise and destroy everything he had built his life on and in that way no better or worse than the Rebels. "The First Order cannot allow for personal vendettas. And if it´s about the girl…"

This time, the push almost knocked the air out of his lungs and only when he raised his trembling fingers to his throat did he notice that … he couldn´t breathe, his windpipe in a deadly grip. He could feel his eyes start to bulge, the veins at the side of his forhead start to pulse. He heard himself gagging in the attempt to draw breath.

Ren just stood there, hand outstretched, fingers curled in a cramp. „Do not… test me."

He started to twitch, legs giving way even more and he had to use a hand to keep himself propped up. Then the pain was gone. The terrible choking sensation was gone. He drew in air like a man drowing, panting and coughing hoarsely on the polished ground, head bent on his hands and knees, too weak to even rise. Hatred boiling inside him. Hatred and terror. He had felt this before. When he had found Ren after the girl had escaped, after Snoke had been killed. A choke so violent it hammered every other thought out of his mind. And what shocked him when he was kneeling there right now was that this time it had been much more intense. It had felt as if the other man was barely able to keep himself from crushing him. That maybe soon he would. He would have to make sure that he could tilt the balance of power his own way before that moment came.

"Y….yes, Supreme Leader." His voice was a mere croak.

"Keep searching. And keep me informed." Ren just said before striding from the room

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 **Author´s note: Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing or for just enjoying the story. I like to give a short shoult out to reviewers before or after a new chapter just as asign of appreciation. Also, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Hilary Parker: Thank you so much. No, this story is indeed not tagged Reylo. My main idea for it lays elsewhere and the concept behind the driving plot will be a number of things but this pairing is not really what I have in the back of my mind there, mostly because I am not one to write the kind of hurt/comfort angsty stories that often go with it. Plus, for those looking for Rylo fics there are plenty out there. Kylo Ren is of course going to be a part of the story though and his connection to Rey is an issue that will be addressed but this is not a Reylo fic as such. I hope you stick with it. :)**

 **2010: Well, I do have a few ideas there but as I said the main operative behind this story is not romance. While I find Reylo have very little common ground to build a romantic relationship (mostly because the abusive undertone) I will see where I go with Fynn. I am not primarily a romance writer, but there will be elements. Thank you for reviewing. Enjoy.**


	3. Malastare

**Chapter 3 – Malastare**

Just like any other planet in this vast galaxy, Rey knew little about Malastare and what she knew were pieces of information Leia had given her during the remainder of their journey, reminding her once more how small her world had been, how limited her knowledge, before all of this had started. As they approached it she saw confirmed what Leia had told her. Malastare was a world mostly covered in forests with a few cities mostly along the less frequent flat deforested areas that had given rise to mostly smaller, industrial cities during the last couple of generations. Divided into an eastern and a western continent, the planet was inhabited by a number of species, humans among them, but the most populous groups being the stocky humanoid Gran who, with their talent for business had constructed a sizable industry centred around the planet´s fuel reserves around its planetary core and the indigenous Dug. During the times of the Empire there had been conflict over trade with those fuel reserves that the Empire had shown an interest in but the treaty drafted to seal the deal had been refused ratification by the Dug council running domestic politics on Malastare. There had been all kinds of grievances coming from it in retaliation for this lack of cooperation as the Empire saw it, many of which neither species liked to talk about. What had happened on this planet during the reign of the Emperor following this fallout was shrouded mostly in mystery and had distanced both Gran and Dug from the Empire and while back then they had not had the power to escape its totalitarian grasp, ever since the fall, the planet had taken a more neutral stance which made it at least a reasonable candidate to seek refuge. Mostly because maybe the Millennium Falcon would not draw too much attention here.

Still, Rey felt her heart beat nervously when she landed the ship in a small dusty port near the outskirts of a dense forest, not far away from a smallish city on the edge of the eastern continent. They had carefully listened for transmissions but had been reassured by the lack of hostility. Still, they all knew they needed to be careful. There was, however, no direct reaction to their landing and yet, Rey could tell the group was on edge when they met in the back and Leia laid out their plan. "What we are looking for right now is an outpost that is both well concealed and will hide us in plain sight. If rumours spread about a rebel group on Malastare this planet will likely be the next target of the First Order. But as sad and devastating as our losses may have been, it will be easier to hide a group of this size."

Their possibilities for undercover identities were limited, but before the Falcon had landed, every obvious and less obvious hint that they were members of the Resistance – that they were what remained of it – had disappeared. Rings with hidden Resistance logos had been locked away in a hidden compartment in the Falcon´s storage alongside any signs and badges indicating military ranks that had disappeared from their clothing. Blasters were well hidden and every member of the sadly small group was wearing their least military, least suspicious clothes, some of it not looking all too convincing. Here, too, resources were limited, because most had escaped with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

"We will need to scout the area." Poe had announced, not before giving Leia a look, Rey noticed. It was subtle but she could dimly sense that the man was respectfully looking for approval. It was granted right away. After that, the General continued "Half of us need to remain with the ship, the other half should leave it. We need to find a base, we need to scout the area and assess what the natives think of us, and first of all we need supplies. Food, water, and most of all, we need a healer."

"I´ll go." Finn said at once, getting to his feet. Rey sensed his anxiety.

"Me, too." she said instantly and forced herself to keep eye contact with Leia when the other woman looked at her, apparently for half a moment unsure whether or not to tell the younger one to stay. Finally. The General nodded, barely visibly.

"Three parties." Poe suggested. "I´ll go with Finn and Rey to scout, two more parties for supplies and we all hold our eyes open to look for healers." There were no debates. They were all eager to get started and possibly just as glad to get out of the confines of the Falcon where after a while things had gotten far too crowded with far too many emotions hanging in the air.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The city wasn´t too much of a walk and they kept brisk pace to reach it quickly. It turned out an assortment of mismatched buildings constructed for dwellers of human-like height, but the streets were filled with a motley assortment of species going about their business, making it easy to blend in. Still, Rey noticed that humans were rare and they did draw the gazes of some onlookers and some of the Gran selling goods on the sidelines.

"Lovely little place, isn´t it?" Poe remarked as they came past a stall of scavengers selling what looked like machine and vehicle parts of a make Rey had not seen before. Stout and streamlined cockpits, thick cables, engines in parts. Most of the sellers were Dug and all around there were smaller groups of interested buyers, squabbling in their own guttural, chirping language as they probed and prodded the parts with their feet. It looked strange, Rey thought, noticing only belatedly that the Dug´s anatomy seemed all mismatched only at first sight. The bipedal creatures walked on their hands but their feet, ankles and toes…or was it fingers?... were incredibly dexterous.

"What are these?" she asked, nodding her head at the half-assembled parts.

"Pod racers." Poe said, giving her a sly grin. "They´re a big thing here. Incredibly dangerous and betting on them is really popular. They say very few species can fly those, at least that´s what the Dug say." Rey slowed down to give the things a closer look, but felt Finn take her by the hand. "Come on." She could feel his urgency and hurried along, wringing her hand free of him for reasons she could not discern. It didn´t feel awkward, but there was that brief moment of pride, a brief memory of a simpler time when she had told him that she could walk by herself when he had attempted to take her hand while they were running back on Jakku. It made her smile, but she hurried along. If these were different circumstances, she thought, she´d love to try one of these racers.

Poe had been right about podracing. A few minutes later they dove right into the centre of bustling activity that was a bar on a narrow side road. The chatter was audible from outside and when they entered they found themselves in a flurry of activity revolving around a number of holo screens displaying footage of a race. There were cheers and shouts and excited and angry clatter as the strange, menacing looking vehicles flew around narrow bends and scraped along the edges of buldings. Credits were exchanged across tables, odds noted, bets agreed on and debated. In short, the place seemed perfect to hide.

"Do you think anybody might be after us here?" Rey asked, standing close to Finn and leaning over a bit. She couldn´t sense anything alarming but then again, this was a sort of sense she did not yet trust. Luke had taught her a little about sensing danger, sensing beings around her, but when she tried to, when she attempted to listen in on the vast cacophony of life that ran through the Force, it was like trying to make out a single voice in a giant dissonant choir.

"I am not sure, but I don´t think Malastare was ever mentioned when I was still with the troops." Finn said, keeping his voice low only for her and Poe to hear. "At least I don´t think the First Order have any outposts here."

"Well, wouldn´t be half as exciting if we knew for sure, would it?" Poe gave Finn an amiable clap on the back and added, when both of the others gave him a half-shocked glare. "Hey, blend in, remember?" "Right." Finn gave back with a shrug of the shoulder that said everything about how he would rather want to be anywhere but here."

The voices in her head when she sensed into the Force in that still only roughly trained way were starting to grind on her mind and Rey focused for a moment, pouring her concentration into focusing on the outside world again. Then she approached the tall Gran behind the counter. "Excuse me." she said, giving a small smile that she knew looked a little forced. The male´s three eyestalks twitched as he turned his attention to her, snout moving in what she believed to be mild surprise as he placed his big hands on the counter, leaning forward to look at her even more closely. She drew back slightly. "Look at that." he said, not unfriendly. "Humans." She could feel Poe and Finn had positioned themselves on either side of her and the Gran´s call for a moment drew the attention of some of his customers.

 _Don´t look at us,_ Rey thought feverishly _. Don't look at us, don´t look at…_

But even during that fearful train of continuous thought, the atmosphere around them relaxed once more, most of the people here more interested in their drinks and the race anyways.

"Well, what can I get you my friends?" the bartender asked, attempting something that Rey believed was the Gran version of a smile.

"We don´t want to drink," she hurried to say. "We are looking for supplies. We were wondering if you could point us to…" She had no idea how to approach these things, but Poe stepped up to her and added with an honestly charming smile. "…to some honest tradespeople." he concluded her sentence. "We were told that you have connections that can be trusted. We don´t want to get into trouble with the wrong folks after all."

"Hm…" the Gran gruffed. "What kind of supplies?"

"Food, some tools. Maintenance supplies for our ship." Rey said, finding her footing again, before narrating what the group had agreed on earlier. "Maybe some housing for a few weeks. We are travelling mechanics."

"And we are always interested in some honest work." Poe added.

It was a surface story. They had no intention blending in with the populace to that extent, but there had to be some starting point to test how they were being received. And for now at least their cover seemed to hold. Yet, despite his friendliness, the Gran stayed skeptical. "Many of the people here do not much like dealings with humans, no offence." he said. "bad experiences in the past you must understand."

"We won´t cause any trouble. For now we merely need supplies." It was dangerous, Rey knew, to ask for a healer right away. Asking for one would mean to admit that one of them at least was hurt. And why would a group of travelling workers and mechanics risk transporting one of their own, unless these injuries resulted from something that reeked of trouble?

The Gran motioned over to another of his species to take over. "Come along." he groveled, agreeably enough. "I can give you a look through my holdings and you can see if there is anything you want to buy." The three of them exchanged a look behind the creature´s broad back and followed. For a moment, despite the Gran´s peaceable behavior and there not being any obvious hostility in the air, Rey wished she still had the lightsaber. Not to use it but just because it felt more reassuring. Her staff, still her most trusted weapon, had remained on the ship, because that would have drawn attention for sure. And the saber, of course, was no longer of use, scattered into pieces that she had put away into a hidden nook on the Falcon.

The storage room looked rather well sorted. Not many fresh foods, but goods made to endure. "I can get you some connections to a couple of good hunters and farmers that can help you out. How many?"

"About two dozen people." Rey said.

"Hm, I think I can help you out there."

The noise of the bar had turned into a muffled soundscape in the background but despite his trusting attitude, the Gran had waved to another of his species, a little younger as Rey guessed, to accompany them. The other had remained near the door, pretending to be busy but very obviously watching them, making sure his boss was all right in the company of the humans. Now that they were not in the middle of a crowd any more, Rey could sense both the older Gran and the younger as thin presences in the Force. As they started to walk through the rows and put together goods she could also tell that Finn was growing increasingly uneasy. She glanced at him, then turned to the older Gran again.

"There is something else."

The being turned, looking at her with all three eye stalks at once.

"One of our maintenance mechanics had an accident with one of the engines of our ship on the way here. We need a healer."

"A healer…?" The older exchanged a look with the younger, the mood suddenly became a little more tense. "You didn´t have any on board? No medical unit?"

"No."

"Hm…" Now there was suspicion in it. "I am not sure. I don´t know anything about you and people who come here and ask for medical assistance just a few moments after having met usually mean trouble. Who are you really, girl?"

The mood had shifted in just a few seconds and Rey felt her pulse do a fearful jump when the second Gran stepped closer, body tense. "We don´t want any trouble here." The younger said, his voice less hoarse but deeper. This, they all understood, were peaceful creatures, but things had happened here that had made them suspicious of strangers, especially humans. "Humans usually mean trouble. So why don´t you get back on your ship and we forget we saw you?" It was a threat veiled as a suggestion. She could see from the corners of her eyes that Poe held up his hands in an attempt to calm the situation down. "We won´t cause any trouble at all, we just fell on some bad luck." But it didn´t help. Finn had fallen silent.

"Get out." The older Gran suggested, his face not hostile but his eyes narrowed, his stance unmistakable. "Leave."

She could tell that Finn was increasingly uneasy. They did need a healer. Rey had not seen Rose again during their flight but had been told the girl had been unconscious for most of the time, her state critical. It was a race against time and they all knew it.

As the two Gran closed in more, not the stance of fighters because they were obviously both unarmed, something in Rey clicked and she made a decision in a heartbeat. It had worked before, hadn´t it? When she had been a prisoner of Kylo Ren, strapped to that chair, it had looked like there was no way out. And right now, while there was no danger of torture, the Gran alerting the city to a possible band of troublemakers could mean similar problems. She felt deep into herself, more conscious of her powers than back then when she had instinctively worked them on the storm trooper. She looked up, looking the older Gran in the eyes calmly, clearing her mind.

"You will help us to find a healer to help our friend." she said. The Gran tilted his head to the side. She could see Poe from the corner of her eyes, turning towards her. "Come on, we should look elsewhere." Without looking at the man, she raised a hand, placed it on his arm and shook her head lightly. Her eyes, meanwhile, locked on the Gren.

"You will help us to find a healer to our friend." she repeated in the same calm, insisting voice. In her chest, her heart was beating as if she had just run up and down the dunes of Jakku.

The Gran moved from one foot to the next, kept her eye contact, then relaxed. "I will help you find a healer to help your friend." he said, his voice a little devoid of expression. Then he strode off. Rey turned, fixing the younger Gran´s gaze. "You will not talk badly about us and you will come to our ship with the healer once he found one." she suggested. With the younger, it worked instantly. "I will not talk badly about you and will come to your ship with the healer once he found one." And with that, both Gran left, leaving her and her befuddled friends alone in the storage. The door remained open.

"What?" Finn exclaimed. "How´d you do that?"

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 **Author´s note: Some research on Malastare has gone into this chapter, mostly with regards to vegetation, species and hints at dealings with the Empire and things that resulted from the disagreement over fuel that is being hinted here and will be deepened in chapters to come. There are continuously some gaps that I need to fill, assumptions I have to make but I hope they work well with the story. Canon and non-canon seem to be rather fluent these days so I apologise if anything falls between the cracks with regards to that.**

 **This story is developing in my mind, has taken some twists and turns around the initial outline that I had when I started it, taking shape in more detail with every chapter. I would like to thank everyone who is reading, following and reviewing. It´s nice to see that this story is enjoyed by some in a place with such a vast number of fiction.**

 **Hillary Parker: Thank you very much. I see we seem to be very much on the same page here. And I definitely mean to explore these things. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.**


	4. Mind tricks

**Author´s note: I am sorry for having kept you guys waiting for longer than I wanted to. It has been an incredibly busy last couple of weeks that simply didn´t allow any time for writing. But here we go with a new chapter.**

 **Chapter 4 – Mind tricks**

The Gran turned out very helpful after that little encounter in the storage room, leaving his younger helper to organise supplies that they were only too eager to sell while claiming to go and talk to someone he knew who he said would be able to meet them and look for Rose. Rey noticed the glances Poe and Finn gave her, a mix of being seriously impressed but also just a little bit of that look in the two men´s eyes that told her they could not fully comprehend what she had just done – and that maybe they were not sure what to make of it. It was a reaction that Poe hid better than Finn and that Finn pretended not to display, pretending it wasn´t on his mind but she could feel the young man´s slight uneasiness and it only added to her own conflicted thoughts.

"Quite a helpful little magic trick you got there." Poe pointed out with a rather smug grin before excusing himself to help the Gran put together what they needed. Rey told herself that noone had been harmed by it, but still wondered whether it hadn´t been too rash a thing to do. To do it to a stormtrooper who had every intention of condoning her being a prisoner to be held and tortured was one thing, but to influence a harmless, unaffected bystander into putting himself at risk was another. And yet, she had not hesitated a single moment, had not even had a tiny shred of consideration for that. It had been necessary in that moment she had felt. And she had done it, had called upon the Force and used it to help her out. Now she wasn´t sure it had been the right thing to do. Maybe it was just a small thing but what she recalled, ashamed of the brief moment of triumph when the Gran´s mind had caved, were the wide eyes of Luke Skywalker, streaked with fear. _ **You didn´t even try to resist…**_ She silently wondered what he would think of her now.

"Damn right." Finn said and caught her by the arm lightly when she attempted to go after Poe to help as well. Out of reflex she shrugged her arm and he let go instantly, however, he kept talking. "but how´d you do it? I still don´t get that."

She reluctantly replayed the scene in her mind, what she had done moments ago, but the other as well, at that place she´d rather not revisit.

"I´ve done this before." she said, leaning a little closer, her voice low. "With one of Kylo Ren´s stormtroopers. I told him to let me go and he just did." She spoke almost in a hush and tossed a glance at the younger Gran and Poe.

"Huh." Finn just made. "So that´s…." he made a flippant, somewhat confused movement with his hand. "The Force, yes." she nodded. "But Luke never taught me that one. I did that before I met Luke and we never addressed it."

"So how´d you know how it works?" 

She shook her head a little. "I didn´t. I just … felt it. Like there was a voice in my head telling me that I could do it and how to do it."

Finn made a face as if impressed but there was something else in it. Something that reminded Rey of her own conscience stirring earlier. That Luke would likely have disapproved of it, because it was not what a Force user was supposed to do. "Well, whatever it was…" his face changed to some mock suspicion and there was the slightest trace of a barely held back smile. „guess I got to be careful ´round the big jedi girl now so she doesn´t mess with my mind."

He walked past her with a little grin that, despite herself, she couldn´t help but mirror as she gave hm a playful little smack on the shoulder that he responded to with an exaggerated little howl. "Yup! See? Just like that." he called out, pretending to be hurt. Funny, she would later think, how that moment had brought some lighthearted little banter in all the heartbreak and worry that sorrounded them. But maybe, for just that moment, they had needed just that little silliness to make the rest of the day something they could at least attempt to bear.

They joined Poe and the younger Gran who had started to carry supplies outside finding a couple of quadruped beasts large enough to serve as pack or riding animals in a backyard that lay in the shadow of the forest´s outskirts. The colour of their hides was ranging a colour spectrum of different shades of brown and their broad backs that gave away they were strong enough to carry both the stocky Gran and heavy goods. To Rey however it seemed that the latter was more likely. "I will load three of our beasts." the young Gran said. "and trust your word you will deliver them back safely once they got your supplies to your ship. There was no distrust in the male´s eyes, his voice slightly too level, at least that is what Rey told herself. She shook off that feeling.

It didn´t take long. Saddles were brought from somewhere as well as reins and large saddle bags and not too long after, they climbed their mounts and were on their way.

Rey noticed that Finn seemed to have some trouble keeping his balance on the animal´s back, clutching to the saddle knob more than to the reins and had the situation be any less urgent, she was sure they would all have gotten a laugh out of it. But right now, despite his clumsiness, he was the one to take the lead, urging the beast that no doubt could sense an inexperienced, clumsy rider, to the outskirts of the settlement and along the edges of the forest back to the landing docks where they were already expected by two of their small group that had volunteered as lookouts who immediately started to help them unpack. Finn had already raced ahead, no doubt worried about Rose.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The promised healer arrived shortly after when Rey was almost done helping some of their little troupe store away the last of the goods and turned out to be a scrawny, sharp eyed Dug who had made it to the Falcon aback a strange insectoid creature that he used for transportation. He had brought a number of foreign looking instruments, trinkets, small bags and vials of different shape, size and hue dangling off the intricate belts around his hips and wrists. It was a strange sight to watch his movements that seemed off but nonetheless elegant. He didn´t say a word apart from a nod that he gave with slightly squinted eyes, taking them in for a long moment then focusing on Rey who had stepped forward. His eyes narrowed some more and a brief flare of his nostrils elicted a soft jingle from the little metal caps he had fastened to the ends of the four thin, fleshy appendages that hung off his snout.

He dismounted his strange ride. "My name is Nabhaar Bengor. I was told to help." he said in a guttural Basic interrupted by occasional clicking sounds that marked him as a speaker of the native Dug language. "A wounded girl?"

"She´s a friend." Rey said, but the Dug had already measured her up with a glance that betrayed something like suspicion before he turned away to follow Finn who had shown up that very second. Rey released a breath when the yellow, sharp eyes of Nabhaar Bengor focused elsewhere. This one didn´t like her for whatever reasons.

The Dug however, whether pragmatic by nature or eager to get away from her and the job over with swiftly made it past her with a hobbled, yet quick sequence of moves, his feet already busy digging through his pockets and tapping against vials as if checking whether he had all he needed. In no time he was up the ladder into the Falcon. Rey followed.

It had been hours since Rey had last seen Rose and back then she had only tossed a short glance into the small cabin they had placed her in, the pilot´s cabin as Rey was sure. She did not know the other woman and had been shy to disturb someone so obviously in pain and hovering in and out of consciousness. When she entered the cabin now however, closely following Nabhaar Bengor, she felt a pang of worry. Two others were in the cabin – Leia, sat near the young woman´s head and Finn, squeezed in the narrow space between the wall and bed, raising his eyes when they walked in. Rose looked ashen, her face devoid of any colour, her eyes more clenched shut than close, her breathing eratic. The Dug sauntered in without much of a feel for discretion or private space and made a series of clicking sounds that might have been anything between sympathy and suspicion.

"What happened to her?" His eyes only briefly shifted to Leia before finding Finn. The young man froze for a moment and looked over at Rey and she could tell his mind was rattling off possibilities to explain Rose´s state. They could not likely say that her wounds had resulted from a battle with the First Order.

"It was a speeder accident." Leia chimed in, her voice steady as her gaze fixed the Dug who seemed a little reluctant to meet her eyes.

"A speeder accident off world then? Why did you not look for a healer immediately." He had moved over to her and, with surprising gentleness, moved the blanket off Rose to inspect her side. They had patched her up as well as they could but in the eyes of a healer they had probably done a pityful job because this time his clicks did sound annoyed. "You should´ve had her looked at right away, her wounds are very close to festering and if that happens you can see yourselves as responsible for that," the Dug snapped.

"We had no chance to do that. We were attacked by pirates and had to get away quickly. It was the only way to save her life and ours." Leia continued which merely earned her another sharp glance of the healer. "Maybe next time you will want to think about the consequences of your actions a little more thoroughly." He groveled as he gently started to peel away the bandaids they had used to dress a rather nasty gash at the girl´s side. "She is in very big danger…. Hush now, little human…" The last words were spoken a lot more softly and accentuated by a soothng little undergrowl since Rose was stirring, groaning in her sleep. Rey did not have to look over at Finn to feel him grow uneasy.

„Will she make it?" he asked, tensely.

„That remains to be seen." The healer said, putting the bandaid aside and fishing a small vial of some liquid from his belt. "I can try to treat her with something that might drive out the inflamation if it has not progressed into her blood stream so far. She will probably get a fever from it but it is necessary. If she survives the fever, she will survive that wound."

"Do it." Leia said. "Her life is very precious to us."

The Dug just scoffed and continued what he was doing, using some ointment to treat her wound, handing the open vial to Finn. "Give her more of this before sundown and again tomorrow." he said. With the long toes of his right foot he picked a bigger flask from a bag on his side and held it up into the light. "She will not want to try it. It´s it might save her. One small gulp whenever she wakes. Make sure it stays down."

Leia nodded. "How can we repay you?" she asked. "we have not much but we have some credits and we can trade." Nabhaar Bengor´s head snapped up and he looked at her with what could easily be interpreted as a sneer, nostrils flaring, eyes narrowing. Then he looked back down to finish his treatment of Rose, gently applaying new, clean bandaging, checking Rose´s temperature with the back of his hand before he even replied. But his words were unmistakable.

"I do not want to be paid by the likes of you." And while Rey was still wondering what the Dug meant by that, he turned slowly, glancing over at her. "I hope she recovers and that once she does you people and … this one…" he indicated at Rey with a nod of his long head. "will leave this planet for good."


	5. One with the Force

**Chapter 5**

 **One with the Force**

 _It was the strangest of feelings. If feelings were even still a thing that registered in his mind. If a mind was even still something that he possessed. No. Such terms defied this new state of existence in which everything constantly seemed to drift apart and pull itself together in an ongoing pulse of life that he himself had a hard time controlling – not that he wanted to control it. A plane of being, a state of existence that came easily to everything. Where things were mere consciousness instead of an assortment of atoms. Where bodies did not matter and matter did not count. Where nothing felt the necessity to form physical shells and yet where everything maintained perfect… balance._

 _Whatever he was, whatever he had once been had taken a while that he could not even begin to measure, to just… be. Minding nothing else, caring for nothing else, than for just existing. Because everything else was always there, always within reach, always so close that it was not necessary to worry about its whereabouts. When everything was in balance there was no need to find a shape or form, because everything_ was _perfect harmony._

 _And yet, whatever he had once been – and that knowledge, that state of existence was fading fast, so fast – soon noticed that this kind of existing was not without flaws. Had noticed that there was no drifting about aimlessly because there was a purpose to everything. That there was no perfect balance but much more a constant struggle. Natural. Like the tides. A constant up and down like a beating heart of a rhythmic breath. Or any other metaphor of the physical realm the assortment of atoms that had once been…_ him _… could think of. And while this lack of a balance, this constant up and down and mere momentary interlude of harmony existed, there was a constant pull._

 _Back._

 _And forth._

 _And back._

 _And forth._

 _And everlasting, every thrumming more strongly towards one side of it all. Towards where he felt whereever what he once had been felt more at ease. Like a natural state of being._

 _There was no way of telling how long it took whatever had once made up his physical body to adjust to a bodiless state. Naturally it was as if he had been reaching for something and that despite his training not to do so. The mortal coil he had readily given up was still an alure, an imprint on his memory, something that, like a now shed skin, would not so easily fade from being part of him, despite its uselessness. Despite the fact that he had outgrown it._

 _His spirt outgrowing his body. A body that had started to age. To ache. But all that pain was now gone._

 _The thrumming pulse of life continued._

 _Breathing in._

 _Breathing out._

 _And with every breath more and more of what he had once been stopped drifting. Pulled itself together, whether from purpose or melancholy of what had once been a body was hard to tell at first, before true purpose emerged._

 _He had been._

 _He was._

 _He still was._

 _He was one._

 _One with the Force._

 _He had been one with it mere moments ago before what he truly was, his very essence, his soul, pulled itself apart from that eternal energy to find a somewhat more independent and secluded yet eternally connected shape and form. Becoming himself again. Not what he had partly considered himself all his life. His limbs. His senses. But his self. His consciousness. Not atoms but..spirit. He had understood for most of his life that there was more to existence than just matter, and yet it took him a while to recognise._

 _A while._

 _What was a while?_

 _Was time even linear any more?_

 _Had it ever been?_

 _As the essence, the_ gestalt _that had once made up the soul and mind of Luke Skywalker reached into the vastness of the Force to explore that concept he found that it wasn´t so. Had never been. Time was not linear. Time was…_

They had no time.

 _The thought shaped, emerged like a spark in the eternety of relativity that was the Force but caught fire, blazed with the glow of twin suns._

No time.

He had bought them time.

 _Instinctively he reached._

 _And found it was easy to connect, to transcend the vastness of time and space. Emerge from the vastness of the Force just a little more independently, becoming_ Luke _just a little bit more. On the verge of being himself. Concern for his friends making him take a more independent shape, rejecting the ease, the balance of just existing._

 _But as he did, relief swept over him._

Safe.

They were safe.

 _He couldn´t tell how he knew, everything around him, everything about what he was now was strange to him, like new clothes one had to grow into frst, something to get used to._

Safe for now.

 _He could not see her. Not Rey. Not his sister. Not any of them. But he noticed he could feel them. The brush of the existence of their minds against his, when he focused. With more clarity and more ease than he had ever known when he had still been alive._

 _Alive?_

 _Such a strange word he thought since he had not felt more alive in as long as he could remember._

 _Yes, he was alive. Without a physical body and that bewildered him but… he focused. Watched…now really watched as the world around him took shape. And focusing more he looked down without eyes, sensing and seeing the stream of life that was the Force, watched as he willed an imprint of his physical self into existence. Faint and jittery, following the rhythm of the breathing in and breathing out of things, but shape it did. He watched as he slowly closed a metallic hand, opened it again. He felt gleeful._

" _This is a good start. You have become so much stronger, Luke." The voice was there, clearly but whether it was audible in the sense he had needed things to be back in the physical world or whether the voice was just a projection within the life stream of the Force didn´t matter. It didn´t startle him, not as much as it should have, all things considered. It was part of it all. Like him._

 _He looked up. Not really, but thinking of it as looking up, thinking of things in terms of the physical made it a lot easier to understand this new state of being. It was all illusion but it anchored him in reality._

 _The swirling balanced chaos around him that he had not even been able to perceive moments earlier had ordered itself some. Had he had to describe things in more physical terms he would have described himself standing somewhere in the midsts of a thick fog that one only found on planets with too much moisture. Grey, translucent, soft gusts drifting. He could feel the imprint of what had once been his body but without the pains that had started to bother him. Tearing his ´gaze´ from his right hand he found a figure stand nearby._

" _Ben?"_

 _He felt the mix of amusement, affection and the slightest hint of melancholy from the other being´s presence in the Force._

" _Yes. If you will."_

" _This is…. I can´t…"_

" _There is nothing to worry about, old friend. But it looks like I will need to teach you the ways of the Force one more time."_


	6. The sacking of Chandrila

**Chapter 6**

 **The sacking of Chandrila**

He had not slept for what felt like an eternity. Not since the battle. Not since Skywalker. He kept telling himself that it didn´t matter. That sleep was for the weak and that he had the dark side as his alley, sustaining him with all the energy he needed. He had made sure to show his presence on deck, to instill fear in those that had seen his authority crumble on Crait, had made sure that the rumours were spreading. Of Hux being choked within an inch of his life. Of how dangerous it was to cross the Supreme Leader. And the rumours were starting to work. Crew and officers alike had started to avoid looking at him directly when he passed them, as if terrified the strange powers the Supreme Leader possessed could kill them on the spot. Those that had been half mumbling about suggestions that he make room for those with more experience did not dare to get in his way any more and all it had taken was a few more small doses of barely controlled anger at the right time, the ride place. It was direly necessary. After Snoke´s death there had been first signs of mutiny. The fragile yet competitive order of captains and generals had started to squabble over the leftovers, too stupid to understand that their fights would lead nowhere. And while his anger was something he still couldn´t control, something that had cost him direly when it came to respect in front of those that strove for control, it had also served him well. They knew now what he was capable of. He had always had a special position in the First Order. One that didn´t come without jealousies. The Supreme Leader´s favourite. Or his pet. Depending on who one might ask. No more.

He was learning, and learning fast, that people, regardless of species, were only too willing to bend to power if it kept them safe. And that those few that were not among those weak minded could almost always be persuaded. For better or worse his powers were rare in the galaxy, almost extinct which put him at a vast advantage against all those lesser men with weaker minds. He remembered with disgust how Skywalker had tried to teach him that wielding the Force, being strong in the Force, meant constant self control, that it could wreak great havoc if rules were disobeyed. It was only one of the many lies the old man had fed him, veiling one of the truths he had tried to keep from him. The Force was strongest in the dark side, he had learned. Pretending otherwise meant self betrayal and worst were those that claimed virtue and were tempted by it and fell, but who were too weak to control the darkness. Like Skywalker. Kylo had had a greater master later, one who had taught him the things Skywalker had never wanted him to know: the power of the dark side, the fierce, unbridled power that, when unleashed, could bend the entire galaxy to one´s will. Like others had before him. Like his grandfather had. Before Skywalker had caused his downfall.

He was standing on the bridge, looking out into the blur of stars, his hand clutched around a small item as the star destroyer leapt out of hyperspace and the lush, calm green-blue world of Chandrila zoomed into view, filling almost his entire field of vision.

"I want a full status report."

The reply came immediately, the diligent voice of one of his officers from the surface as the blueish hue of the man´s holo projection visualized on the small projecting orb in front of him. "Hanna City is under our control, Supreme Leader. There has been no resistance."

"Good."

Starkiller Base might be defeated but it didn´t need that much to threaten the weaker systems into submission. The First Order, too, had evolved, smaller, more portable weapons and those mounted to the destroyers already in orbit were enough to wipe out a planet, their firepower unrivalled in this part of the galaxy after the Republic had been wiped away and the Rebellion had been stripped of its entire power. They had pulled their fleet away from Crait and other systems closer to this one. The sacking of Chandrila had been long in the planning, before Snoke´s death, and while it pleased Kylo to hear it had gone smoothly, it irked him that he had not been present for it. Another triumph Skywalker had denied him.

The place was under First Order control now, the weak remains of a clustered and smashed Republic wiped away like the debris that remained of its planets by the stronger winds of chaos and change that would take the galaxy like a storm and upturn all that had been to finally bring an end to the wars. Ironically, Chandrila might be a good spot to start as any and while it had been chosen by Supreme Leader Snoke for its symbolic value, Kylo thought that was only fitting to make his own home world the very place where the new age began. To make it his stronghold. To let the past die and redraw the lines in the sand forever. But there were other things he would have to attend to, and soon. He could feel the desire for them in his very bones and in the very energy that he could feel when he grasped for the Force. He needed to see to things. He needed to set some things right. Get a hold of others. Only that way would he be able to assure his legacy, his power even. He had little desire to be stepped in the back like his predecessor. But he had already set plans into motion to avoid that. There were those, after all, that he knew he could place his trust on. Those that had remained in obscurity and that would now step up and have his back…

And still, as the ship broke through the atmosphere and approached the landing platform, its massive hull evaporating the surface of the ocean it skimmed over on its low course, for some reason it was hard to look at this world he had known as a boy, difficult to keep the memories at bay. The glittering waters in the harbor of Hanna City, the evening sun reflecting off its low rounded buildings brought memories he rather wished buried. And so he turned away as they landed, his hand firmly around the small object that he was twisting between his fingers so tightly it hurt.

The sun was almost down when the chutes opened. He was not wearing his helmet any more, not liking how exposed that made him look, how his youthful features would make others think he was barely more than a child. Let them see, he thought bitterly to himself. This is not the face of a child but that of a man who killed his own father. A man who killed his master to obtain rulership of the First Order. The man who would bring order to the galaxy like his grandfather before him had tried and failed, not because of a lack in ambition, but because lesser men had had too much luck.

He gave Hux no look when he strode off the ship, two dozen stormtroopers on his tail to meet the small entourage outside on the landing platform. Four captains of his fleet, stoic faced and in impeccable uniforms, all older than him and at least one with a look on his face he would have correct at some point. Apart from that there half a dozen, clad in black, their faces masked to emulate their leader and he could sense brief, confused bewilderment at the absence of his own mask. A glance or two exchanged. They instantly stopped when he approached. Between them there was a woman. In her late thirties maybe, dark blonde hair and her head held high. Kylo approached her. Didn´t even grace her with a look.

"You are invading Republican territory." she grit her teeth at him. She had guts, he had to admit that.

He completely ignored her and stepped towards the half dozen that was surrounding her. The one he approached bowed his head in respectful acknowledgement. "Master Ren."

He would have to teach them yet that his title had changed. He had been Master Ren for these few for years. A clandestine group assembled as his powers and influence grew. Four had followed him when he had turned his back on Skywalker, evading their own death, another few he had found scattered throughout the galaxy. All of them had two things in common: they were not afraid of the dark side, but embraced it. And not a single one was as powerful as he was. Fierce fighters, all of them, and with the Force as their ally he had kept them mostly a secret. A secret weapon to be unleashed when their time had come. And it had. He did not worry about their loyalty. He had made sure he had it.

"Who is this?" he asked without sparing the women so much as a glance.

"I am senator…" her voice scrambled into a choke as her hands flew to her throat, her eyes widening in terror. Still, Kylo did not look at her. "I would advise her to not speak when not asked." he said, then released the Force grip. He could hear her gasp in shock and fall silent. "She is senator Serena Marán." One of his Knights said in her stead. "the powerless leader of a small group of political mostly unarmed resistance. They posed no threat."

"Because the Republic you are fighting for is gone. An entire system blasted from space by the First Order." he concluded, finally turning to look at her. The woman´s look was one of utter defiance.

"You dare." she hissed. "you dare come to Chandrila. I will not see the planet that saw the signing of the Galactic Accordance be turned into the lair of First Order Scum."

He gave her a second or two to wonder whether her words had any effect. "No." he then said, almost bored. "but you will be given the chance to decide for yourself whether you´ll live with it or die with it. Your senate is dead. As is your democracy."

"I was under the impression that only your so called Supreme Leader…" she began, but he cut her off with a flick of his hand. She fell silent immediately. Force chokes made people learn quickly.

" _ **I**_ …am the Supreme Leader. There is a new order on the horizon. You should get used to it." He at no point used the word ´senator´ to address her. No such honours. No such recognition. And yet he could already feel anger boil in him at her defiance. Oh, she would be easy enough to break. He had broken others before. Even without an effort, that Force choke had been enough to make him sense she was not like the girl. Not strong in the Force, but a mere, simple, ordinary human. But it was maybe that her defiance reminded him that not all were easily broken. That he had still not found the girl. Still not found Rey…The mere thought made his anger rise again.

"Hold her. I want to question her later." He said, then turned on his heels and left his men to take the senator to a secure place. They did so without further questioning him, four of Knights guiding her away, ignoring her protests, the two other black clad ones falling in in a respectful two feet distance on either side of him – a small but effective black phalanx. He felt for them in the Force. Their minds completely focused on him. No questions, no doubts. Just loyalty. Dull, bound into shape loyalty.

"I will need your eyes and ears here." He said as they approached what had once been the senate building. There were no crowds, just stormtroopers standing guard at corners, smaller battalions filtering through the streets in a distance. "Yes, Master Ren." Came their unison reply.

"I will need to leave tomorrow. I will leave you in charge. Kill anyone who disobeys."

They affirmation was not needed. He could feel it in their Force presences, unwavering, fierce.

He did not allow himself a smile as he walked, his hand by now fiercely clenched around the object in his hand, the shaped edges of the obsidian boring into his palm. But the late Supreme Leader´s ring would soon be put to good use.


	7. Rust and metal scraps

**Chapter 7**

 **Rust and metal scraps**

The sentiment of the Dug was one of the more palpably hostile ones, because even though he had helped Rose to the best of his abilities and the young woman´s health seemed to at least stabilize over the next day, it was obvious that the locals did not feel at all comfortable knowing the Falcon and its secretive passengers around. Whether it was the presence of strangers that wouldn´t mingle in the bars and podracing rinks in the city or whether Rey´s mind trick had found its way into the rumors that often spread about strangers was hard to tell, but in their current state as refugees the group and Leia at their helm had quickly decided to find a place to stay that was both more secluded from the Dug and Gran, granting the indigenes more peace of mind, and easier to defend should the need arise.

They had found something that seemed to serve their purposes well. A few miles outside the small city where Rey, Poe and Finn had stocked their supplies, the foresty hems of landscape gave way to large areas where nothing seemed to grow, remnants of old industry, huge facilities once used to pump and transport the planet´s unique, toxic fuel reserves that now lay waste with the rust and climate slowly eating away at its substances, submitting it to decay. Large, wide pipelines that had broken open in a few places and that no longer contained any liquids, large buildings with flat domes, mostly collapsed chimneys and partly collapsed roofs. A monument for the ages, telling of times when Malastare had been a planet that the Galactic Republic and the Trade Federation had battled over and that was now more and more slipping out of the galaxy´s memory and awareness. Leia was the only one who still had some knowledge over what had been going on here in the generation before her birth, the battle for Malastare, the defiance of the Dug council and finally a treaty that had been signed that guaranteed the Republic access to the fuel reserves and that in turn freed the Dug from some indigenous beast only spoken of in their legends now. Even Leia had no name for it.

They had chosen a still somewhat in tact fuel factory at the edge of a small mountain ridge, giving them something to have their backs against and a hangar intact and large enough to store the Falcon. They all knew that this could only be temporary, a little waiting until the First Order was off their trail, a little spying on what was going on and maybe … and this was something that hung open in almost every conversation between the remaining resistance fighters … maybe there was a way they could get help. The spark had been rekindled and now it had to be ignited to a few first licking flames. Rey felt the responsibility on her in every glance they stole her way, even from Leia who possibly understood more than anyone else the weight of sacrifice. They had all witnessed her powers, making her someone that was to be feared or admired and the fighters chose the latter. There were unspoken pleas and she silently wondered when the first would step forward to ask for her to use her powers. In fact, she was thinking herself that it was needed…. But she was scared that once she used the Force, there would be someone listening in. And that he would use that strange, alien bond that had been forged between them to find them. And to kill what was left of them. That he would snuff out the spark that had only begun to glimmer.

It had taken them a day until every last one of them got restless, started to look for chores, volunteered for guard shifts, just to not have the feeling of being trapped and waiting for doom or better ideas. Rey herself had found a task that had seemed worthwhile. The scavenger she had been had wanted to explore this factory but the jedi she was starting to become told her there was a use she could put those old skills to. The saber was broken. She would need to repair it. She had no idea how, but she had started to carefully examine its complicated insides, tried to understand how things were connected and had a rough idea what she might need. She had even had a careful glance at the stack of old, falling apart books she had taken from the temple on Ahch-To but had discovered that what seemed to refer to lightsaber construction was written in an old form of Basic that she could not understand. The illustration however gave her at least something to start with. A new handle, she would surely be able to find a fitting thin tube for that here, a switch, wires… she at least told herself that she was capable and knew where she might start on this while in truth looking at the broken pieces of the lightsaber both confused her and made her want to repair the thing, just like there was some ancient knowledge only waiting to be rediscovered. At the core of the saber she had found a crystal, finding that it matched the illustration in the old book. She remembered picking up the stone and being unable to not stare at it for a few seconds when she had collected the remnants of the saber in the burning throne room. A blue crystal, intense and fierce for reasons she had not been able to grasp.

The sun was setting for the third time since their arrival when she returned to the room she had declared her own, a former workers room probably, a few metal bunks along the side. They mostly slept in the same room for comfort and security, all of them, but everyone accepted when someone needed their privacy for a while. She opened the cloth bag she had used to collect metal pieces and other things while climbing through the rusty rigs, ladders and planks of the rusty factory, laying them out in front of her meticulously, next to the broken pieces of the saber. For a reason she could not tell but that maybe felt closest to respect, she loosened an end of the bandaging around her hand to touch the crystal and move it aside a little, not touching it with her bare fingers. Then she began to sort her loot, finding pieces similar to those that had been broken, matching and throwing out what turned out useless, but not tossing out any of the old and broken saber parts. She got engrossed in her work after a while but all the same her frustration grew. This was a task that felt manageable, that she should be able to do since she had always felt very capable at such things, but that seemed just beyond their reach. If only Luke were around she thought with a sad sigh. He surely knew how to build a lightsaber. Or how to repair one. She should have taken the other saber maybe, she thought to herself in a moment of utter frustration that nearly made her hurl a metal piece that had turned out useless against the wall ...but that other saber had not felt like her own. It had felt off. Had felt bad. She suppressed a shudder at the memory and yet it came back to her, powerfully.

 _The flames flickered off the smooth scarlet walls, giving the entire large room an even more ominous feel. The explosion that had rocked the ship was a motion she believed she could still feel in her very bones but there was something else that had shaken her to the core. When she crawled back to her feet every limb seemed to burn from the exhaustion, but it was an exhaustion that ran much deeper. She grit her teeth and forced herself to walk to the clattered remains of what had been Luke Skywalker´s lightsaber that had scattered all across an area of several square metres as they had ripped it apart._ Ripped it apart… _for a brief instance it was as if it was that which had exhausted her. A pain running deep. A feeling of loss at the destruction of that saber. It was an emotion that made no sense but that was probably normal in a situation like that. She collected the shards and pieces with flying fingers, lingering and staring for several seconds when she picked up the fierce blue crystal that as it turned out had been at the core of the weapon giving it its signature blue blade. The crystal was whole, not splintered, didn´t even seem scratched_ _ **…**_ **but something about it** … _she jumped and jerked her head up and found that what had startled her was a shower of sparks erupting from a steel beam near the throne that had finally given way to the hot molten cut of one of the sabers that had cut into it earlier during the battle. She found she could not tell whether it had been her doing that or… him._

 _Her gaze travelled. He lay a few steps away, his slender black form curled slightly away from her, his curly hair covering what little of his face she might have been able to see from where she was. His right arm bent outwards to the right in a strange but not broken-looking angle, his fingers open and the saber, shut off, had skitted a few feet to the side and away from him. He was unconscious. He was unarmed._

 _Rey got to her feet, a sudden fierce decisiveness taking hold of her, pulling her upwards almost, giving her determination and focus despite her aching body and mind._ You can end this. _The thought was crystal clear in her mind, in her own voice. Clear and sharp and determined and brave._ You can end this. This war. This conflict. The First Order. You can end it right now. _She felt her jaw tighten and her fists clench as she shoved the pieces of the saber away into a small satchel by her side and walked towards the unconscious form just a few steps away from her. Bent down. Picked up the black metallic hilt. Pressed the button that stood out from its surface._

 _The saber hissed to life in an aggressive, almost hungry sounding hum._ Different from her own _– from Luke´s, she reminded herself – This one was raw, constructed with aggression in mind and probably a lack of skill. She could almost feel the current of plasma energy dance along her hand like something not properly isolated. Maybe it was the closeness of the crossbeams, or maybe this was simply a weapon that shared the aggression of its builder._

 _All of this went through her mind in a flash and she pushed it away almost in anger. The next thing she knew was that she had channeled that anger and swung the hissing, sputtering red blade high over her head in a double handed arch, feet stemmed firmly into the ground side by side, face set, eyes ablaze, ready to swing it down on the man in front of her._ You can end this. You can end this now!

 _But then she hesitated. Stood there with the saber held high ready to deliver a deadly blow. But suddenly not capable of doing it._

 _What was it holding her back? She felt so torn in this moment, some voice whispering to her to ignore her feelings, to do what was best for the galaxy or no_ **,…to take revenge** _for all the deaths this man had caused. This boy who had taken the wrong path and who was beyond redemption and who … she had looked in the eyes more often than she had ever wanted, hating and hoping because she had seen conflict in them. A plea._

 _But that plea had left when he had dragged her here, when he had told her she was nothing, no one, that she came from nowhere and her parents didn´t care. When she had found that even though he had killed for her he had only power in mind. Only tyranny. She felt her grip on the saber tighten again, swinging it higher, so ready to bring it down and make him pay and …_

Use the Force. Think _. This voice, so deep in her soul and yet ...not her own. It reminded her of the voice that had guided her when she had freed herself from the interrogation room. And all it took was those three words, this little thought flashing through her mind to remind her … of a vision she had seen. Of Luke Skywalker in that very same situation. Raising his saber, the one that she could feel, broken in her satchel, to strike this man down. This boy._ Ben.

 _She gasped. Lowered the saber, clicked it shut and the hissing, angry blade disappeared. She dimly heard it clatter to the ground as her hand lost its grip. And then she ran._

With a heavy sigh she forced herself back into reality. Looked down at the broken shards in her left hand and the slightly rusty screw in the other, still not sure how to figure it out, how to piece these together. You know this…you know how this can work.

"I don´t know." she said out loud. "I don´t know how to fix this."

"Maybe I can help."

She spun around, her heart doing a painful leap, thinking for a brief, brief instance that this must be just her mind again, that one of those voices that felt like her own at times but maybe weren´t, had gotten the better of her, that she had been tricked by microsleep and not heard anything at all. But that moment was almost too short to grasp. She recognized the voice instantly. It had spoken to her in that gruff, annoyed undertone, it had scolded and reluctantly praised her. It had taken on a more protective and affectionate tone with time. Like it had now. Even though it sounded slightly…different.

As she spun round she gasped. Behind her, clearly visible and only a slightly unreal blue hue surrounding his robed features betraying that he was no longer in the realm of the living, stood Luke Skywalker with an expression of his face that she could not begin to decipher.


	8. Death and beyond

**Chapter 8**

 **Death and beyond**

"Luke?"

She could feel herself choke on the name, and instinctively her hand went to her side in a reflex she had acquired during training, but there was no saber any more, the pieces broken on the cloth in front of her where she had failed to assemble them. In the first moment the apparition was so unexpected, so…alien that her survival instincts kicked in, halted only by her being unarmed. She scrambled back on her hands and feet, almost scraping her palm on a rusty piece of metal she had already tossed out. He just watched her, calmly, with an expression on his face she could not place. Was it sorrow? Peace? Serenity? She had felt him die, had felt his presence shift from the Force in a way that told her he was not with them any more and she had felt … peace. And purpose. The way he looked at her held all that but then some. A sort of grief. A sort of … knowledge. After a moment, Luke Skywalker lowered his gaze.

Rey could hear her heart pounding in her ears as she blinked. No, she had not been imagining it. That was her old master, the Jedi, the grumpy old man who had become a mentor and friend but had always remained somewhat elusive. Too scarred by his own life to fully be able to move on. And yet in the end, he had saved them. "Is that…really you?" Her voice was a mere whisper. "You…you died…I felt it."

He looked up again, smiling a smile that didn´t reach his eyes completely but kindled a twinkle in them that made him seem younger for a brief instant. "Amazing." he then said. "Every word of what you just said is right."

She scowled in confusion, recognizing the phrase he had used to not so subtly let her know what he thought of her knowledge concerning the Force when he had started his lessons. "But…how…?"

He stayed silent for a moment but shook his head, slowly. She noticed that something about him had changed. He seemed…a lot calmer and yet, more aware even of his surroundings. Of her. The way he looked at her was one of truly paying attention, not the flickering gaze she had so often caught on him, dismissive looks or glances of reluctantly admitting that he did care for her. No, this was different. More _complex_. Rey felt herself shift and break eye contact when it became too intense. Whether he noticed or not, Luky didn´t let it show. "It´s difficult to explain," he said gently. "I was guided by an old friend. I knew before that death is not the end. Nobody who studies the Force for most of their life can believe it is the end."

"How did you know that?"

There was the trace of a grin on his face. "Come on, Rey..." For a moment his gruffness was back, but in a much more well spirited way, almost in jest. "Don´t you remember the first lesson I taught you? How you felt it was all connected?"

She nodded, remembering. "Yes, but…"

"Death is not the end," he reaffirmed. "At least it doesn´t have to be for a Jedi."

She felt a strange pull at his words, and a moment later she knew that it was a question that sprung to the front of her mind. The one question that had guided her like a star through all of her life as far back as she remembered it. The question who she was… And in that moment she almost asked him. Almost asked Luke Skywalker for her parents. Had he seen them in that… _beyond_ , wherever he was? Was he able to sense their presence or what or who they had been?

She almost asked it, the sharp, painful memory of the words that Kylo Ren had spat at her a sudden fresh wound in her mind. _Junk traders…_ And it appeared to her that she still refused to believe him. Still clung to that hope of…belonging _somewhere_. But there was always and had always been the kind of fear that Kylo´s answer had seemingly confirmed. That she was a nobody. That she belonged nowhere. But in that moment, when she sensed she had the chance of getting some clearance on the matter, some piece of mind, some truth from someone who she trusted … she did not take that chance. She did not ask. Because in a sense she belonged somewhere now. More than she ever had.

Silence hung between them, that unasked question like a fog before it dissolved. It was him who broke the silence again, by casting a look at what she had been doing, the scraps of metal on the floor. "Any success with that?"

She felt the dry humour in his voice that, when she had first met him had been cynicism and bitterness and that now had a sense of shrewdness. There was the urge to be defensive, as she wondered whether Luke was mocking her technical skills, a strange little outburst of emotion that surprised her and that she didn´t let surface. "I tried." she said. "I was trying to figure out how the wiring worked and I think I have a good idea of it, it´s not that different from many other things, but I can´t figure out…"

"…the Crystal." he completed before she could and his blueish form shifted as he walked…could she call it walk even?...moved across the room. She shrank back instinctively as he got a little closer to have a look at the saber which granted her a look that told her clearly he had noticed and was half bemused, half insulted. "Yes." she therefore hurried to say as if that moment had not happened, braving his gaze as if to reinforce that she was not afraid. Not afraid of ghosts.

She saw him look around, find the open tome on the floor and heard him chuckle. "Well, I could have told you those old things weren´t any good." he told her, realizing that she had taken them from the temple before it had burned down. She was not sure whether or not there was the slightest note of admiration in his voice.

"They were helpful for the illustration of the handle." she defended. "but they´re written in an ancient Basic I can´t read."

He smirked. "Neither can I, kid."

She frowned. "So how did you make this one?"

Luke turned over his shoulder, his attention shifting away from the pieces of metal on the floor. "Oh, I didn´t make it. It was given to me."

That was new. Rey felt her confusion deepen. "By who?" she asked. She had always assumed this to be Skywalker´s lightsaber. Wasn´t that why it had called out to her? To signal where it belonged? That she was to take it back to him?

Luke shook his head. "A story for another time." he said dismissively but his eyes were on guard for a second. Then he sat down on the floor near where she had been sitting before he had so mysteriously materialized out of thin air. He reached with a hand, then paused, seemingly realizing that he was not what he once had been and Rey felt a sudden sadness cross her mind as she saw his face sober as his fingers stopped inches from the shiny blue stone. He hesitated for a moment, then pulled his hand back.

"So what did those ancient masters tell you about Kyber Crystals?" he asked, inclining his head towards the old book on the ground in what was clearly half mockery.

Rey crossed her arms in front of her chest, uncrossed them, embarrassed for no reason that she didn´t even know that was the proper term. "Nothing." she said. "As I said, it´s in an ancient…"

He motioned with his eyes for her to sit down across from him. She did.

"A Kyber Crystal is the heart of a lightsaber." he said. "I think they used other crystals for it, too, but Kybers became the most highly priced."

"Why?"

He gave the smallest of shrugs. "Because of their unique qualities. It is difficult to call them…sentient, but if it helps, call them that. A Kyber Crystal has to be chosen for a saber and back in the day when the Jedi Order still existed, it was part of a padawan´s training to construct a saber of his or her own."

Rey crossed her legs, listened. This was one of the rare times, she realized, that he would talk of what he knew of the past. Not his own past, but the past that had preceded him and that she had heard him talk of mostly in distaste. This time, however, his words were more gentle. "Kybers were rare in the galaxy. Padawans and their masters went to a moon together that had large ancient caves full of them and the padawan would choose the stone. In their original state, they are white."

Rey looked down at the Crystal in front of her, clearly emitting a faint blueish glow. "Why is this one blue then?"

"Oh they can take on colour." he said. "Most are blue. Sometimes green, I believe. And sometimes…red."

She instantly made the connection. Kylo Ren´s saber was red. An angry, sputtering red that all of a sudden, now knowing what was at the heart of it, seemed all the more wrong to her.

"I learned…" he said. "that they can turn red when the influence of the Dark Side is too strong. That when the soul of the saber´s wielder becomes too twisted, too lost, it makes the Kyber … _bleed_ in a way. Sharing the suffering of its owner as long as he or she still possesses it."

She felt a shudder run down her spine at the ominous words.

"So they _are_ sentient then?" she repeated his earlier suggestion.

"They amplify, I believe." he said. "they feel. The Force is as strong in them as it can be in a non-living thing. But then again, what defines life anyways?" He gave her a wry smile and a wink as if making fun of his own strange state of being.

She thought for a moment, thoughts, memories whirling in her head, at the same time making things all the more confusing and all the clearer. "That´s why it could call out to me…" she whispered. "When I found it in that chest…" She stared at the saber for a long moment, then looked up at his face just in time to see a strange melancholy fade from his eyes as if it was something he was trying to hide from her. "Yes." he said and all of a sudden it seemed to Rey as if it was difficult for _him_ to keep eye contact.

The moment faded as quickly as that strange expression in his eyes had. "Yes, I am sure that is what happened."

Rey shifted on the ground, regarding the saber´s shards, the half reconstructed handle, the open wiring. The Crystal. "Can you help me put it back together?"

As she said it she noticed that many things were implied in this. She was asking him to restore a weapon. There would be more bloodshed, but even more if she did not stop Ren. In her mind she only in the last second kept herself from calling him Ben. Ben was gone. Or was he? There was the deeply rooted thought that there was just one way to end this. And another joining that thought, a spark of hope despite everything.

Luke kept silent for a moment, making it look to her as if he had doubts. As if once more he was choosing to stay out of the fight. "You told me that a Jedi would get involved if the balance of the Force was shaken." she told him, in a sudden determination convinced it was crucial he helped her. Crucial to restore Balance. To bring peace. Even though every single of those thoughts seemed laced with a kaleidoscope of emotions so complex they barely seemed only her own at that moment.

To her relief, he nodded and there was a sense that something else had made him thoughtful, something she could not grasp. "The Crystal was shaken." he said. "torn between the light and the dark. When you fought over it, you and Kylo Ren. You burst it from the inside. It´s shaken and needs to find its balance again just like a Kyber that was freshly found by a padawan generations ago."

"It needs to be brought back to the light?" she asked, not quite understanding.

"Light. Dark." he said. "It needs to be put right. This Crystal has seen many things. Has suffered." He shook his head with a sigh. Glanced at her with a look in his eyes that reminded her almost of his wariness back on that rocky ledge when she had so readily reached out in curiosity to the darkness beneath the island.

"I am not going to ruin it." she said firmly, believing to have traced the root of his concern. "I have felt the lure of the darkside. I resisted it."

There was a battle of emotion in his eyes. Thoughts she could not fathom, truths she had no access to, experiences of a lifetime torn by hope and despair that she had never known of. That she had only witnessed the end of.

"I know." he said after a moment. "But remember what happened, what you told me about touching the saber for the first time?" She felt a chill run through her. "This," he confirmed as if sensing it. "might be much worse."

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

 **Author´s note: It has been a while since I managed to update any of my fics, I know. Life is busier than I like right now, but the summer is fast approaching and my muses and time are returning bit by bit. I hope there are some people out there still enjoying this. Let me know if you do if you like.**


	9. Passage

**Chapter 9**

 **Passage**

The upsilon class command shuttle descended over the planet in a wide slope as it came in lower and lower in an arch from orbit, advancing towards the spike structure built on the bleak, splintered rocks that oversaw the plateau. The obsidian towers pierced the dark skies like some pronged weapon, its polished, geometric look clearly marking it as something constructed, unnatural in this world of lava streams and ash.

The small starship turned to the left, flying an arch that brought it within a distance of a several hundred yards of the fortress, the vast expanse of a giant lava river eerily glooming off into the far distance visible to its lone pilot when the vessel swerved towards a small landing pad on the far side of the fortress. The lava river ran towards it in a many threaded gleam of broken fire, coalescing into a thunderous, hellish stream at its walls and squeezing through the dam´s regulating gates to be pouring out in a thin stream of molten fire at the other end of the obsidian structure, the lava plummeting into the depths only to ramify into a dozen paths below, its temporary order broken.

The ship´s wings folded upwards in a sharp angle seconds before it set down, another alien thing in a harsh world, but strangely fitting nonetheless. Everything here seemed dark, ominous. A place devoid of life despite its lights, abandoned and with only the fortress to bear witness to its past and history. At least that was what it had to feel like for an ordinary being, Kylo Ren assumed as he pushed the command capsule open and climbed out of the pilot´s seat. To him the place emanated something that he could only describe as the very essence of the Dark Side of the Force. He had barely ever been to a place that ran so thick with it, as if it was contained in the very fire of the slow, menacing lava streams or the very stones this fortress was made of. Emanating a dark, cold power, and for a moment he stood and closed his eyes, letting it sweep through him, allowing the darkness to wash over his mind and senses, centering him. It nearly made him sigh in relief. Coming here was necessary for more reasons than one, but it was also spiritual. His grandfather had built this fortress on the ancient ruins of a Sith temple, and while he could not immediately sense Lord Vader´s presence as he had hoped he would here, he could feel the Dark Side brimming on the edge of his awareness, amplified by this place.

Kylo did not allow himself to linger for long. He had come to this planet with a purpose and now that he felt the darkness just below the surface, he felt all the more reminded of it. The man who had built this fortress was long gone. He had never had the honour to meet him, but as Kylo briskly walked towards the large, obsidian gate, the sounds of his boots drowned out in the constant roar of the lava river, he was certain that the spirit of Darth Vader still resided here somewhere. It´s what he had come for after all. To the place that would give him power. The place that now that his master was dead would increase his strength to unknown heights. For just like the Sith of old the First Order had not been idle in its research of ancient artifacts, of places where the Dark Side focused the most acute. The planet of Mustafar was one of these places, as Darth Vader had known all too well and as had Kylo´s master.

He reached the gate and glanced up at the walls that rose in front of him, smooth and unadorned black stone, seemingly unaffected by the passing of years. _I have come, grandfather. I have finally arrived at the place of your greatest power._ He raised his right hand, pulled off the black glove he was wearing and revealed the ring he had somewhat awkwardly pushed onto his finger underneath. The ring was heavy, a firm elegance that lay more in its strength than intricacy. A black stone set upon a broad band of yellow metal, its base set into a holding engraved with ancient runes that stood out black against the surface. Kylo Ren looked at the thing for a brief moment, then pulled it off his finger with a decisive motion and did another step towards the gate. In the very centre of it was a circular dent with deeper inlays in its middle, forming a complicated pattern of molds. His eyes flickered across the otherwise smooth surface, his heart hammering in the brief consideration of the possibility that he had either been mislead or misread things. But moments later he discovered the very mold that matched the structure of the ring´s obsidian perfectly. He took a breath, only then realizing that he had been in dire need of one, and then pushed the ring into its predestined mold. It clicked into place like a key finding its lock. Then he waited, the beating of his own heart louder to him than any sound in his vicinity.

Nothing happened.

There was only the constant rush of heat battering against the fortress´ walls from the fires below and the incessant whispering of dark things that he had welcomed a moment ago and that now seemed to him like mockery. _I am here_ , he replied in his thought, trying to focus his entire being to command the gates to open. _I am here, grandfather._

Nothing. The gates did not move.

And the spirit of his grandfather did not reply from the depths of the Force.

Within moments he could feel his anger flare with the heat of a dying sun. He did a step back and thrust out his hands towards the gate in an aggressive motion, commanding the Force to do his bidding and break down the locks that would not budge.

Again, there was nothing.

And the dark things whispered. Now he was sure he was being mocked. That they were tugging on his mind to remind him of his weakness.

But he kept going, thrusting every ounce of his energy into breaking down the impenetrable obsidian gates. _No_! he growled inwardly. _No!_ He had not come here for nothing. He would not be defeated again. Not by her. Not by a stone gate. Not by anything in the galaxy. _I am the heir of Lord Vader_ , he flung out into the Force. _I demand to be let in_. The thought was so intense that he was sure no mortal mind would be able to face it unscathed but here in the loneliness of Mustafar it veered off into nothing, powers, energies and anger wasted. The door did not move by any means. And he flung a scream of frustration at the red skies.

It barely gave off an echo but he felt it in his mind long after it had died on his lips. _You are weak_ , that echo seemed to tell him. _Can you hear how weak you are?_ And once more it woke his rage, stronger than before and with a fluid, aggressive motion he grabbed the hilt of his lightsaber from his belt behind his back and the blade sputtered to angry life in his hand, bristling as if answering to the undercurrent of darkness that was woven into this place.

He raised the saber, tip first, ready to pierce the gate, to melt it down if he had to even though the walls had to be thicker than the blade and it would probably take him a long time, but he was beyond caring. But then something tugged on his mind again. Something dark. Some presence not quite sentient but possessing enough consciousness to whisper his name. Not the one he had chosen, but the one he shared with the man he had tried to kill when he had last ignited his weapon.

 _Skywalker…_

It sent a tremor through his mind and his head jerked upwards, trying to catch the word, to catch more of the voice before he realized it was no physical voice…it was in the Force. And maybe not even that word but more the concept of it. Something much more primal, much more basic, reaching into his true being and calling him the name it saw fit.

 _Skywalker…_

He did a step back unsure for the first time since he had arrived. Was the Dark Side mocking him calling him by the name of his uncle? Or welcoming him as the true heir of Lord Vader? No matter what the name almost seemed like an insult. He knew his grandfather had once gone by the name of Anakin Skywalker before he had turned, but he had left that worthless legacy behind. A name with no history, no imprint on the fate of the galaxy, had traded that name against one that bore true power: Darth Vader.

 _Don´t call me that!_ He flung back, saber still ignited. Ready to lash out against an invisible enemy. _Let me in!_

The whispering Darkness did not abide, it merely became wordless again, a whisper flicking against his mind. And at first, he thought it to be mockery. But then he understood. It was… expecting something. The ring was still stuck in the gate where he had thrust it, but he could sense the Darkness reach for it, engulf it, and retreat. _Not enough…_

Kylo was breathing hard, for a moment not understanding, nearly panicking. Had he strayed so much from his strength, so much from power, so much from the Dark Side of the Force that he was not attuned to it the way he needed to be? Attuned to be granted access to the one place that he had hoped would not only reconcile him with the Darkness within and drive out the light, the doubt that had been sown within him… _that she had placed there_ , wakened like a virus to grow and make him weak …but that would connect him to the greatness the Dark had to offer, would make him powerful enough to reach out through the Force, amplify his strength and find her. So he could finally once and for all vanquish her. Her and her pitiful rebellion or what remained of it. As long as she existed the doubt would always be there. The link would still be there, because even though it felt like she was forcefully shutting herself off from him now, it was still there, like a small thread between minds with nothing to discern for him on the other end. He needed to see the other end. And then he would snuff out the light.

 _Not enough…_

And then he understood. Anyone could have that ring. Anyone could steal it and bring it here but only a true Disciple of the Dark Side of the Force would be granted access to Lord Vader´s seat of power. He shut off his saber and reattached it to his belt. What he did next was pure instinct, but what better proof could there be than what he was about to do? He took a small knife from his pocket, snapped the blade open. It was an ancient thing, not the kind of weapon to expect in someone wielding a lightsaber, but he liked to keep it around. He had done repairs on his weapon with it when some of the wedgings and wirings and screws would give him trouble and there had always been a peculiar fascination within him for crafty things. And old things. Just like the calligraphy set he owned, not something that anyone would need these days.

He looked at the blade for a long moment, not out of fear of the pain that would come but because he was preparing himself for what could come after that. Then he ran the blade across his palm and instantly a stinging pain seared through his hand. He forced himself not to wince and watched the rivulet of blood that emerged from his pale skin. Then, determined, he raised his hand and pressed it to the centre of the gate. _This_ will _be enough!_ he flung into the Force like a command, gritting his teeth.

Again, for what seemed like a long moment, there was nothing.

Then, all of a sudden, the Darkness gathered, drew in on him like a swarm of nothingness as if the Dark Side was curious about what he was doing and, upon realizing, both appreciated and shrank back.

And then with a click that he could hear even over the noise of the fire, because it resonated within the Force more than it was actually audible, the gate to Darth Vader´s fortress opened.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

 **Again it has been a while, but updates will be more frequent over the summer starting at the beginning of August. Meanwhile I hope a few of you guys out there enjoy this little story. Take care, everyone.**


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